Coverage for the hurricanes may be going down, but people from all over are still donating and doing their part to raise funds for the places affected like Texas, Florida and the Caribbean. On Thursday October 5th, model Petra Nemcova and Sofia Joelsson, former Miss Sweden and award winning interior designer, came together for an evening of shopping and charity.

The focus for the event was for the recent disasters in Houston, South Florida, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. This event touched Joelsson and Nemcova’s Happy Hearts Fund. “She’s such a beautiful soul. She’s so caring and so thoughtful. She’s a very successful businesswoman too and it’s so special to have that combination of a caring heart, brains, and beauty. ” said Nemcova who had just flown in from Paris Fashion Week, about Joelsson. “We have what I like to call a “smartnership” – a very smart partnership..”

L to R: Julio Gallo, Angeles Almuna, & Farid Moussallem

Nemcova brought her Let There Be Light candles, which highlight the rich tapestry of each country they are named for, and Joelsson sold her Cudesso line of decorative items, clothing, and accessories. Both gave 100 percent of profits to the buyers’ choice of three charities: Nemcova’s Happy Hearts Fund, which works to rebuild schools in areas hit by natural disasters, The Humane Society of Miami, and Fundación Cántaro Azul, which is helping earthquake victims in Mexico.

“In my personal experience with the tsunami, I saw how everything can change in a fraction of a second. Everything you knew can be gone..or completely different. It really shows how precious life is and all these things that are beyond our control,” says Nemcova, who has two groups of volunteers on the ground in Houston, committing to stay two years to help rebuild schools there. “After Irma, we sent another team to St. Thomas, and two days later they had to evacuate because Maria was coming,” Nemcova said the teams are back in St. Thomas, where they have also committed to two years, clearing debris, working to rebuild and reopen schools. “Even when there has been mass destruction, if a community has a functioning school, they have hope — so we focus on rebuilding those and getting students back in school,” says Nemcova.